In the production of Zircaloy cladding tubes for nuclear fuel rods, Zircaloy tube stock having an outer diameter (OD) of, for example, 2.5 inches, is cold worked by numerous passes in a pilger mill down to an OD on the order of 0.5 inches with a wall thickness of, for example, 0.025 inches. Of course, these dimensions will vary depending on the particular fuel rod design in production. The finished tube must meet strict dimensional specifications and be essentially defect-free. Of particular concern are defects on the inner surface of a finished tube due to the presence of an extremely thin pure zirconium liner. If this previously applied uniform liner is disrupted during the pilgering process, any buildups of the soft zirconium are worked into the tube wall cross section, resulting in rejectable defects which are discovered during ultrasonic inspection. These defective tubes must then be scrapped, resulting in lost labor, material and throughput.